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Tag: Eureka

Beam me down Scotty! It’s time for Vulcan Events: Away Mission Orlando. Happening in Orlando on October 5th thru the 7th, this is an interesting convention to say the least. Unlike at Megacon, where you fight your way through the halls and into panels, Away Mission Orlando is more casual. With mostly Star Trek celebrities in attendance, this convention is a must see for Trek fans in the Orlando area.

It’s always hard to say goodbye to our favorite shows and the actors we came to love in them. Here are a few places you can see the actors you enjoyed from shows cancelled this year:

Niall Matter, who played Zane on Eureka, will be starring as Evan Cross in Primeval: New World. The sci-fi spinoff of ITV’s Primeval will be shown in Canada on Space and in the UK on Watch but does not yet have American distribution. Colin Ferguson, Eureka‘s Jack Carter, will have a guest spot.

Hugh Laurie will be moving from the madness of House to the madness of war in Papua New Guinea in Mr. Pip, a film based on the book Mister Pip. It does not yet have a release date.

Terra Nova lasted only eleven episodes, but Allison Miller, who played Skye Tate, will be returning to TV with the premiere of Go On on September 11 on NBC. The show features Matthew Perry as a sportscaster in a support group dealing with his wife’s death. Miller plays his assistant.

Landon Liboiron, also of Terra Nova, will be joining the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove, a horror show that begins with Liboiron’s character, who is suspected to be a werewolf, helping hunt down a murderer.

Chuck‘s Zachary Levi will replace Joshua Dallas as Fandral in Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to the 2011 Thor film. Levi had intended to be in Thor when Chuck‘s third season got six extra episodes–sometimes things work out in the end. Thor: The Dark World is currently slated for a November 2013 release.

Yvonne Strahovski, also of Chuck (as well as a voice actress for the Mass Effect series of games), will be in next year’s horror film I, Frankenstein.

Mercedes Masöhn, who played Isabel Zambada on the short-lived The Finder, will play a photographer on the new ABC series 666 Park Avenue, based on a novel about a demon-possessed apartment building.

Those missing Sean Bean on Missing can see him in two 2013 films: The 4th Reich (a horror movie involving Operation Overlord, the scientists of the Nazi regime, and their zombies) and as Zeus in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

The Fades, a supernatural drama on the BBC, was cancelled earlier this year. It featured Natalie Dormer, who should continue to appear as Margaery Tyrell on Game of Thrones alongside The Fades‘ Joe Dempsie, who plays Gendry.

Mudder’s Milk

On Higgins’ Moon in Firefly, there’s a lil’ ol’ city called Canton where the biggest export is mud, and to keep the mudders moving, this drink, far from “mother’s milk,” provides “all the protein, vitamins and carbs of your grandma’s best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.” Our beloved knitted-hat-wearing big damn hero likes it too. Here’s one Mudder’s Milk recipe for you to try.

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

It takes a two-headed guy to invent a drink that has an effect “like having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick,” and that’s just what Zaphod Beeblebrox did for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy universe. Not only are you likely to have trouble finding the real ingredients (Ol’ Janx Spirit, water from the seas of Santraginus V, Fallian marsh gas, and other delights, plus the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger to finish it off), Douglas Adams said in an interview that “there are a number of environmental and weapons treaties and laws of physics which prevent one being mixed on Earth.” That means you’ll have to choose one of the many Earth-bound imitations.

Slurm

At one time you could buy Fry’s favorite beverage in Futurama, as Slurm was sold as an energy drink, but if you still want it, you’ll have to turn to eBay. It probably wasn’t squirted out of a real Slurm Queen anyway. This imitation recipe calls for rum, sour apple schnapps, pineapple juice, and 7-Up. Good luck with that. You might end up wishing for the Slurm Queen.

With only seven weeks left until Dragon*Con, there are only two things left to do: Finish your costume and start planning your schedule. (Last-minute efforts to increase your alcohol tolerance are optional.) Here’s a bit of what’s new so far on this year’s agenda and a few things to look forward to:

The Puppetry track is new this year, with track director Beau Brown. Guests so far include Peter Linz, an original Broadway cast member of the Tony Award winning musical Avenue Q, and Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, best known for her Emmy-nominated work as Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street.

The American Sci-Fi Classics track has a new director, Joe Crowe, and appears to be working on a bit of a track makeover. Their schedule for this year includes “8 Bits of Awesome,” a look back at the “golden age” of video games, and “Manimal & Friends: Quickly Canceled Sci-Fi TV,” a session about one-season wonders.

The Kaleidoscope track is in its second year, and it’s where you can see a panel of GeekMoms in a session called “Are you a Geek Parent?”

There is also a new Video Gaming track, directed by Mike Capps, the president of Epic Games.

On the guest list, there are, of course, the perennial favorites to look forward to, as well as a few first-timers. With Eureka ending I’m excited to see Colin Ferguson, who just did a great AMA on Reddit a few days ago, along with Saul Rubinek from same-universe show Warehouse 13. But as much as I love those shows, the #1 guest on my list (and I’m sure the lists of many others!) this year is John Barrowman.

Strange Frame will be one of the films screened in this year’s Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival. It describes itself as “the first lesbian science fiction rock ‘n roll animated film” and has quite a cast, including Claudia Black, Tara Strong, Ron Glass, Cree Summer, Tim Curry, Alan Tudyk, Michael Dorn, Claudia Christian, and George Takei.

The mobile app has been updated and improved, including with push updates for Android. In addition to iPhone and Android versions, there will be tablet versions for iPad and Kindle Fire this year. New features include tapping a location to see what’s happening there and guest bios built-in.

Hanukkah is the festival of lights, and in my family, we celebrate with illuminating science experiments. Yesterday, we launched a balloon rocket, and today we’re sinking ships. Well, tin foil boats, actually, but this small experiment holds greater drama than you might expect. We thought it would be a simple to float and then sink a couple of flimsy dinghies, but we were surprised but the tiny vessels’ epic buoyancy.

Initially, I’d hoped to introduce the concept of density to my son, but the ‘Floating and Sinking’ experiment provides an excellent gateway to talking about volume, fluid displacement, and the many other contributions of Archimedes, including the origin of “Eureka!” as the go-to exclamation of scientific discovery. As an added bonus, this — like all good experiments — gives the opportunity to practice the scientific method. Of course, sometimes the most fun is had when the experiment doesn’t go as planned…

The instructions for this experiment are simple (materials are in bold):

Shape a boat from tin foil.

Drop it in a container of water to see if it floats.

Crumple the foil boat to see if it sinks.

If not, shape another foil boat and float it.

Place objects, like pennies, paper clips or small magnets, in the boat until it sinks.

Repeat!

Special note: In honor of Archimedes, try this experiment at bath time!

If you’re a serious holiday shopper then you’ve likely made a list of sites to visit on Cyber Monday. There are so many deals and special limited time offers that it’s a little tough to keep track of it all. Well, there’s one site that you really must add to your list. Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and founder of the Her Universe clothing line, is set to unveil new products and special offers for all us geek girls.

On Monday, November 28th, check out Her Universe for new items representing Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Warehouse 13 and Eureka. Ashley is a genuine geek girl and has made appearances at San Diego Comic-Con and Star Wars Weekends to showcase her products. Now she’s giving you the chance to have your very own Battlestar Galactica pajama set, or maybe a Eureka tote bag or even a hoodie designed by Star Wars artist Cat Staggs.

You can also get your hands on the limited edition Yoda pin (pictured above) along with a card signed by Ashley if you’re one of the first five hundred orders placed on Cyber Monday and you can take advantage of free shipping on orders of $40.00 or more. While you’re shopping for the geek girls on your list, don’t forget to pick out a few things for yourself and let everyone know just what their favorite GeekMom wants to unwrap this year.